State v. Perry
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This case revolves around whether the Supreme Court of the State of Kansas can exercise jurisdiction over an appeal that was not filed within the statutory time limit. The appellant, Leroy L. Perry, was convicted of murder in the 1990s and filed a self-represented motion in district court to modify his life sentence. The court denied the motion and, a year and a half later, Perry filed a notice of appeal, asserting that he had never received the order denying his motion.
The Supreme Court remanded the case to the district court to make factual findings about the notice of appeal's untimeliness. The district court found that Perry did receive the order shortly after it was mailed to him and held that Perry could not show excusable neglect for his failure to timely appeal. Perry appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that he didn't receive the order until after receiving a report in October 2019.
The Supreme Court affirmed the district court's findings. It reasoned that Perry would not have known there was a decision to appeal, nor the precise date the order was filed, unless he had received the order shortly after the clerk sent it to him. The court concluded that Perry's appeal was untimely under Kansas state statute and dismissed it for lack of jurisdiction. The court did not reach the State's excusable neglect argument.
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